Planetesimals
by Clowncoupons
Summary: A collection of Hardenshipping drabbles that go along with my main work, Terraforming. Set at various points during or after it. Updates sporadically.
1. Out of My League

Maxie is a mystery that Archie feels compelled to solve. Set during Act I of Terraforming.

* * *

"Oh man, did ya catch the face on that Raticate kid?"

"The second you sent out Weezing, he turned white! Bahaha, I thought he was going to die right there on the spot!"

"I know, right? All that big talk about them being the best got him nowhere!"

"Say, Phil, what plans have ya got tonight? You takin' the missus out?"

Archie was only half listening to the group of Rockets he was tagging along with. With the day's work over, everyone was on their way home. People funneled out from the various rooms and into the long corridor. Some aimed for the elevator and others were attempting the stairs.

Archie's plan? The science labs.

The majority of the scientists outranked him and placed themselves on a pedestal far above his head, which meant he got a number of odd looks when he intermingled with them. What business could a grunt possibly have here, they seemed to say. Nobody had called for him. But he ignored them with a smile on his face.

It was the big room on the second floor, just up the stairs and past the warp tiles. After taking the path countless times Archie knew each step by heart. It was the route to Maxie's workspace.

Upon reaching the door, he hesitated. Maxie wouldn't be happy with him for being a pest for the third time that week. He took a deep breath and exhaled. Then, he waltzed into the room.

Maxie was at his desk in his usual spinning chair. He seemed to not notice Archie, too deeply engaged in his own work. His legs were crossed at the ankles and a clipboard was in his hands. His eyes were focused intensely on whatever was written on it—knowing him, it was something about that damned cave again.

For a moment Archie just stood there and watched him. A month ago this had been the irritating scientist that he'd been assigned to as a first job. The one who he felt obligated to mess with and whose hair needed to be cut desperately. Now watching him sent his heart racing and stomach flip-flopping.

There was something about Maxie's eyes, those red eyes, something he couldn't quite explain, that captured him. They darted from side to side, burning each line of the page. Maxie put a hand to his chin. He wrote something. The fire in his eyes seemed to flicker and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face. Archie shivered.

He hated when Maxie did that.

Archie also hated that he honestly knew next to nothing about Maxie. That he didn't know where he was from, or why he couldn't place his accent. That he didn't know anything about what Maxie liked and didn't like, or what he liked to do when he did have free time. That he didn't know why Maxie was so angry at the entire world and would rather make himself more miserable than open up.

He'd only caught that laugh of his once, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out how to trigger it again. Maxie didn't like jokes, puns, or any attempt at comedy. He was a complete and utter mystery.

Maybe that was what spurred Archie on. Being rewarded with a genuine laugh was priceless. And the idea that there was some scrap of a chance that maybe, perhaps one day, Maxie might even…

"Can I help you?"

Maxie was looking at him. Archie felt his mouth go dry.

"Uh…I…um…" He scratched his head. "Just…knew you'd be working yerself to death in here. Thought I'd check fer a corpse."

"Ha ha, very funny." Maxie rolled his eyes and wrote something else down with more force than necessary. "Do me a favor and shut the door on your way out."

"What? You plannin' on staying here all night?" Archie raised an eyebrow at him. "Didn't you make plans?"

"Why would I?"

"Well I mean…y'know." Maxie gave him a look. "Don't you have a date? Someone you're planning on spending the evening with?"

"I have a lovely stack of work to get to know better." Maxie said dryly. "But other than that, no. I'm far too busy to be off socializing with you lot."

Oh. Deep down Archie felt relieved. It didn't surprise him, to his knowledge Maxie didn't even have any friends. And he for sure wasn't on Maxie's list of friends, something that bothered him day in and day out. Maxie was completely oblivious to him.

"If that's all you came for, then I'd like it if you'd leave."

"Um…"

"What?"

"You…uh, want to grab something to eat? Take a break for a 'sec? Like…in the break room." Archie said, gesturing to the left. "The one down the hall. Think someone brought some food today. There might still be some left."

Maxie raised an eyebrow at him. Archie prepared for the imminent decline. But Maxie uncrossed his legs and stood up. The clipboard, which was apparently full of math problems, was set aside.

"Very well. But it had better not be pizza again. Someone keeps ordering it with anchovies and I'd like to wring their neck."

As Maxie walked beside him, Archie was torn. Maxie's long, thin hands were swaying back and forth at his sides. He wasn't paying Archie any mind. Some part of him wanted to take a hold of one. Some part of him wanted to do it right in front of all the scientists with their upturned noses and sneer at them all the while. Maxie would like that. Maybe.

But he held his arms at his sides and tried to focus on the hallway beyond them rather than on the handsome redhead beside him.

Maybe he'd ask him next Valentine's Day.


	2. Spin Tiles

**Summary**: Archie asks a simple question: Do the warp tiles on the second and third floors only work with people, or do they also spin other things across the room? There's only one way to find out. Set during Act II of Terraforming. A bit aimless and silly.

* * *

Another late night spent in the base. Another night spent with Archie complaining about how bored he was as Maxie filed paperwork. He didn't have to be there with him, it was his day off, but Archie had decided that Maxie was more important than sleeping.

As much as he loved the man, Maxie wanted to strangle him at that moment.

"C'mon, is this really all that important? It's like three in the morning. Nobody's even here anymore."

"Yes. It can't wait. Some of these orders go out tomorrow."

As he was, technically, a junior scientist and the youngest of the bunch, it was always Maxie who was left doing the most dull and boring work at the worst hours. Dozens of papers needed to be organized and properly filed before nine o' clock, which was when they'd be collected and sent out.

He paged through his stack. Red with the red folder, blue with the blue folder, goldenrod went to the front desk. He stuck each item in its folder. Green were for the new equipment suggestions, pink were for evaluations, then there were the—

"Hey, Max?"

He resisted the urge to groan. "_Yes_, Archie?"

"Y'know those warp tiles upstairs? The trap ones made to keep intruders out?"

How could he forget one of Giovanni's stupidest ideas? It made getting to his floor three times more difficult every morning.

"Yes, I'm familiar with them." He said. "Why do you ask?"

"Like…do ya think they only work when people step on them? Or could we…say…" He glanced down at the chair. "…spin some chairs out onto them and set them off like that?"

Maxie paused in filing for a moment. He'd never really thought about that. Honestly he wasn't very familiar with the inner workings of the devices, other than being familiar with their basic function as annoying traps, but he had always assumed they reacted when a certain level of weight was upon them. It might be possible to set them off with enough weight from a chair.

And yet it was _also_ entirely possible that they responded to a heat signature instead and chairs wouldn't work at all. A little experimenting would be needed.

"I don't know." He said, continuing in his work. "You'll have to try it and see."

Those were the magic words. Archie perked up, a grin spreading across his face. "Good idea!" He got out of the chair and pushed it toward the door. Maxie turned toward him, looking surprised.

"Put my chair back."

"I'll bring it back!" Maxie pointed to the desk. Archie sighed. "Aww, c'mon. You're no fun, Max."

Archie slowly pushed the chair back to where it was originally. Maxie huffed and turned back toward the paperwork in his hands. For a moment he just looked at it. Then, he set it down on the table.

"…There's some much nicer chairs in the conference room." He said. "So long as we return them before anyone else shows up, I don't think—"

"Ha!" Archie suddenly appeared, reaching an arm around his shoulders and pulling him in close. "I knew ya couldn't resist the opportunity of a life time! Let's go grab us some chairs!"

Then they were off, Archie dragging him down the hall laughing excitedly. Maxie wondered just how much he'd regret "the opportunity of a lifetime".

* * *

"Alright, first test."

Archie set a heavy potted plant that they had borrowed from the desk by the elevators on top of a tile. After ten seconds of nothing happening, Maxie wrote down the results on his clipboard and gestured for Archie to remove it.

"The plant weighed how much, again?"

"Only ten pounds." Maxie said, writing that down as well. "Which means not just anything will set it off. If the tiles are weight sensitive, they'll probably be set to at least fifty, give or take. Enough to set them off when a child stands on them." He gestured to the chair. "We can't weigh the chair properly, but I'd estimate it at around that. It might work."

"Sweet!"

The office chairs they'd selected were might higher quality than Maxie's rickety old thing in the labs. Finely tailored with leather and proper wheels, they were comfortable, fancy, and easy to move around. They also weighed a ton. Archie carefully pushed one out onto the tiles.

The panels lit up and took the chair flailing and spinning across the room. Due to its wheels, it couldn't properly stop on the regular floor panels. It kept twirling around as it raced across the room in a mad dash.

Eventually it disappeared beyond one of the walls. Maxie heard a crash.

"Arceus, did you _see_ that?!" Archie was howling with laughter. "That was so fucking awesome!" He gestured wildly. "Gimme another chair, I'm takin' this thing for a joy ride!"

"Archie, I don't think that's a—"

Too late. He was already in the process of propelling himself away onto the tiles with the second chair. Maxie put a hand to his forehead and hurried over to him, grabbing the handle of the chair in an effort to stop him.

"C'mon, Max! It'll be fun!"

"Did you not hear that crash?" Maxie said. "Do you not even think there is remotely any danger in crossing a floor of traps with a—HWAH!"

One of the wheels of the chair caught a warp tile. The tile lit up. The chair propelled forward onto the maze of traps. Before he knew it, Archie had pulled him into the chair as well. As the tiles moved the chair at a high speed in a straight line, the spinning aspect of the chair left them twirling around and around.

Archie was cackling. Maxie, never the one for roller coasters or high-speed rides, was just trying not to hurl.

"I hate you," he yelled, over the noise of the warp tiles and Archie's laughter, "_so_ much right now!"

The chair lurched to the right. Then to the left. Then up, then toward a wall. Then away from the wall. Maxie could barely see anything as they continued to spin and the entire third floor of the Rocket base blurred together as a mix of color.

Then they found their last lab rat, the first desk chair. Or, more specifically, collided with it and went flying right out of the chair. They landed in a heap near by the stairway. Archie immediately popped back up.

"Round two! Round two!" He said, though he was clearly shaken by the experience.

"You…you can't be serious."

Maxie stood up, wobbling and swaying as his head continued to swirl. He looked back at the chair wreck. The first chair was on its side, while the other was still standing upright on a warp tile. It was still spinning around and around, squeaking loudly as it did so, as the tile hummed and tried to get it to move.

Maxie squinted at it. It was so, so stupid. The humming, the spinning chair, the squeaking, Archie doing an unintentional dizziness dance as he tried to figure out where the warp panels were. It was three in the morning. He held his head as he burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha—This—hahaha!—fucking—!" Maxie tried to stop himself. It wasn't working. Archie collapsed on the floor, smiling up at him. "This is the stupidest thing we've ever done!"

"Remember, Max," Archie held up a shaky hand, "It was in the name of _science_!"

Somehow that just made him laugh more.


	3. Intruder Alert

Archie has a close encounter with the one person who decides to take Team Rocket head on. And it doesn't go very well. Set during Act II part II of Terraforming.

Warning: there's some blood and violence in this chapter. Just so you know.

* * *

"Archie, boss needs ya out in front."

Archie was helping Maxie count and sort through stocks of Pokeballs to be distributed out to newer grunts, namely those containing Grimer, Rattata, and Koffing. They had just gotten through one of the boxes before a Rocket grunt appeared in the doorway.

"What for?" Archie said. "I'm kinda busy."

The grunt pointed up. "There's some kind of fight going on upstairs." He said. "Can't tell what's going on, but I think there are people battling Pokemon in the casino."

Archie raised an eyebrow. He gave Maxie an apologetic look before he walked toward the door. "I'll check it out and be right back, 'kay?"

Maxie only nodded before Archie left the room. Fights in the casino were pretty normal. Usually one or more grunts got sent up there to throw out some drunk man who was harassing the women at the counter. But Archie had never heard of actual Pokemon battles inside of the building. It was strictly prohibited.

"So," Archie began, "what kind of guy are we dealing with? Is he drunk?"

The grunt shrugged. "If ya ask me, it's probably just that old geezer from the house next to us. Told him time and time again to pack up his shit and move elsewhere, but the damn fool won't listen to us." He shook his head. "That's prime real estate there. We could expand this dump."

"Ehh…I don't know, he doesn't seem like the type." Archie said. "Does he even have any Pokemon?"

When they reached the stairs, there was a loud booming sound. They quickened their pace and hurried up the stairs in a rush. There was a Rocket grunt holding his exhausted Koffing in his arms as he ran past them. Archie's eyes widened when he spotted who had beaten him.

It was a kid. Just some average, ordinary kid. Archie reckoned that he wasn't any older than ten due to his size and build. His eyes were intense, but his frame was shaking.

What was this kid doing?

The other grunt beside him pulled out the whip he had at his side, making Archie flinch.

"Hey—!" He said, gripping the other man's arm. "Easy, man, he's just a kid!"

"Yeah? An intruder's still an intruder." He said with a growl, unfurling the whip. The kid seized up but didn't move. "Clearly his mama didn't teach him a thing 're two about trespassin' where he's not supposed to. Looks like he'll have to learn the hard way, huh?"

From behind the kid came a Pokemon, Jolteon. The spiny Eevee evolution bared its teeth at them and bristled as the grunt came closer to it. The grunt laughed.

"Oh, you want to fight first? Well, I've got a Pokemon too! We'll both teach you a lesson in pain!"

He released a Raticate into the casino. Archie wanted to say something about the rules prohibiting Pokemon battles, but knew he'd be ignored. The two Pokemon stared each other down for a long moment, growling and hissing. Then came a command from the kid.

"Jolteon, Quick Attack!"

With an incredible speed, the Jolteon rushed around the long tile floor, around their feet, weaving to and fro and confusing the Raticate before it struck with its sharp claws. The Raticate let out a squeak of surprise.

"Raticate, show it who's boss!" The grunt called out. "Super Fang!"

The Raticate complied, catching the Jolteon in its teeth before it could escape back and landing what looked like a very painful bite on its front leg. Jolteon retaliated with its back legs, raking at Raticate's stomach until it could pull away. It jumped back toward its trainer, though the intense damage from the Super Fang attack seemed to have left its mark.

The space between the stairs and where the boy was standing was narrow at best and would be bad for any kind of fight, Pokemon or otherwise. Especially if they wanted minimal harm done.

"C'mon," Archie urged, "we're gonna scare people if we start fightin' in here. Can't we take this outside?"

"Ha! Yer soft, Archie. Real soft. That's why Petrel's never gonna promote ya." The grunt snickered to himself. Raticate did the same. "Let me show you how a real Rocket takes care of business!"

He barked out some orders to his Pokemon and Raticate leapt into action, charging at Jolteon. The Jolteon jumped into the air, as the young trainer commanded, before landing a series of powerful kicks on Raticate.

Archie noticed a crowd forming near the desk. Old customers, new customers, maybe even people who had heard the yelling from outside. The woman at the desk looked nervous and gestured for him to do something, to which he held up his hands.

"Bite it now!"

"Dodge, and then Double Kick again!"

The two Pokemon continued to pummel each other in a rush of gnashing teeth, clawing, and growling. People were talking on the other end of the hall, but Archie only heard it as a series of whispers. Team Rocket? Team Rocket was there? Who was that little boy? His eyes darted between the nameless grunt in front of him to the people, unsure of what to do.

An instant later, Raticate was sent flying. The rat Pokemon was hurled straight back into its trainer by a powerfully delivered kick. The grunt yelped as he was thrown back with his Pokemon and toppled down the stairs, yelling curses the entire way down.

That left Archie alone with the intruder.

"…Hey, look." He held up his hands. "I don't like beatin' up kids. Can't ya just go home? What's yer beef with us anyway?"

Jolteon walked over, or more accurately limped over, to its trainers side. The boy pet it on the head, telling it that it had done a good job. Had the situation been different, Archie might have smiled.

"…It's Rockets who hurt Pokemon." The boy said at last. "I see you stealing them, beating them, and working them to death. And people just go along with it!" Archie tensed up. "Everywhere I go, I see people and Pokemon hurt by you, homes ruined, lives ruined. The police don't do anything! _Nobody_does anything!"

The crowd exchanged glances with each other. Archie gave them a hard look telling them to disperse immediately, which they did in a matter of minutes. The boy stared at him. He was serious, deadly serious, but he was still shaking. The fact that he was even talking back to a bunch of adults probably had him nervous beyond belief.

Archie had to hand it to him, the kid had guts.

"Yeah." Archie said. "I ain't denyin' that we do some real messed up stuff. I don't like it much either." The boy looked skeptical. Archie didn't blame him. "But comin' in here like this and beatin' people up ain't the answer. Not everyone in there's like that guy ya just pummeled, or like the grunts we've got runnin' errands. It's dangerous."

Jolteon began to growl again. Archie glanced at it. Though it clearly was getting tired now, looking scuffed up and bruised from attacks, it still looked like it was brimming with energy. Like a Jolteon that had just evolved. Maybe it had.

"Why should I listen to you? You're probably just lying." The boy said. "And I'm not stopping until you're all gone." He nodded to Jolteon, and the Pokemon poised for an attack. "Send out your Pokemon, I know you have them!"

With a huff, Archie reached for one of the Pokeballs on his belt. Mightyena wasn't with him, Carvanha was useless without a ready source of water, and that left Golbat, who wouldn't be too effective against an Electric-type. But if Archie didn't at least try to send the kid away, then he'd end up going straight into the hive of Beedrill. There were dozens of Rockets in the base.

There was no way that a kid and his Pokemon could handle all of that.

"It's too bad we're meetin' under these circumstances." Archie said, releasing Golbat. "Yer pretty tough. Might've been fun to battle ya for real." He pointed to Jolteon. "Golbat, Wing Attack!"

In the confined space, it was difficult for Golbat to get high up in the air. But it managed with what it had and surged forward at Jolteon. But Golbat was no match for Jolteon's incredible speed, and the little yellow Pokemon rushed out of the way in a blur.

"Jolteon, Quick Attack!"

From Golbat's side, Jolteon rammed into it. The large bat let out a hiss, but was not overly affected by the attack like Raticate had been. Archie figured there was a serious gap in experience between the two of them, especially if the trainer he was fighting was new. That would leave the poor kid at a disadvantage.

Golbat retaliated with a Bite attack, which managed to miss the smaller, speedier Pokemon again. That was the downside of battling a Jolteon, what the little Pokemon lacked in size and strength it made up for in speed.

Both Archie and the other trainer yelled out commands, but each Pokemon met each other with mixed results. Jolteon was simply too hard to hit, and Golbat was too experienced to be knocked out so easily.

Archie was surprised that Jolteon didn't have any Electric-type moves, which further supported the idea that his Jolteon was newly evolved and still had yet to adjust to its new techniques, save for its incredible running abilities. Archie wondered if the kid even knew how to control it properly.

"Double Kick, now!"

Jolteon came at Golbat once more.

Golbat dodged out of the way.

But the same couldn't be said about Archie.

Jolteon collided with him. A powerful hind leg rammed right into the arm he held up to protect himself, while the other raked at Archie's face right between his eyes, tearing flesh and breaking cartilage. Archie stumbled back with a loud yell. He clutched his nose with his good hand as blood trickled down his face in streams. His arm was on fire, burning and searing pain erupting from it.

Jolteon jumped back, leaving trails of red on the floor from its claws. Golbat, noticing its master's distress, hurried to Archie's side, clicking and trilling and overall looking distressed. Someone leftover from the crowd yelled for someone, anyone, to call for medical help. Archie clutched his face, gasping and trying not to seem too pitiful.

He eyed the trainer across from him. The boy looked absolutely horrified, face pale, and hands shaking as they moved to cover his face. If it had been anyone else, they would have strangled him. If it was anyone else, the kid would never touch another Pokeball again.

The kid had no idea what he was getting into, did he?

"…Hey, kid." Archie said in between gasping breaths. "I can't stop ya from goin' in there. But I can tell ya—it's gonna be rough if ya do go after us. If yer not ready, ya can always turn around and leave."

"…N…no." The boy stuttered, shaking his head. "N-No."

That was when Archie noticed the other Pokeballs the boy had, the ones still on his belt. He had five more plus the one that held Jolteon. Maybe he'd be okay, if all his Pokemon were like that Jolteon.

But for one kid to take down all of Team Rocket? That was too much for even him to believe.

"…Be careful, lil' scamp." Archie said. "And if ya see a scraggly lookin' guy in there with a purple hairdo then give him my regards. He's behind on my paycheck this week."

Too nervous to say anything more, the boy simply hurried past Archie with Jolteon in tow. Archie watched him disappear down the stairs and off into the darkness of the Rocket Hideout with a long sigh, ruined white glove still holding his shredded face together.

Maxie was going to kill him.


End file.
